Card Of The Week November 17

Today's Premier 12 game between Japan and Cuba in Taiwan was quite the nail-biter although it didn't look like it was going to be at first.  Japan led 2-0 after three innings and appeared in command with a 5-1 lead after five.  But Cuba rallied to put three runs on the board in the sixth to make it 5-4.  Japan scored a run to increase their lead to two in the bottom of the inning but Cuba scored two in top of the seventh (on a throwing error by pitcher Tatsuya Shimizu) to tie the game up at six.  Japan went back ahead in the bottom of the eighth without benefit of a hit.   Kaito Kozono reached base on an error by shortstop Erisbel Arruebarruena and was pinch run for by Ryota Isobata.  Ryosuke Tatumi was hit by a pitch, putting runners on first and second with nobody out.  A Shota Morishita fielders choice moved Isobata to third and he scored on a Ryoya Kurihara sacrifice fly to kinda-shallow left field.

Taisei, Samurai Japan's closer, wasn't available for this game so Shoma Fujihira came in to pitch the top of the ninth and it got hairy.  With one out, Cuba loaded the bases on back-to-back singles by NPB veterans Alfredo Despaigne and Ariel Martinez and Arruebarruena getting hit by a pitch.  But Fujihira bore down in the rain in Taipei and struck out Yoan Moncada and Andi Cosme to save the 7-6 victory for Japan.

With the victory, Japan is now 4-0 in the tournament and has clinched the top spot in Group B.  Taiwan also won today, giving them a 3-1 record and clinching second place in the group so those two teams will be joining Venezuela and the US in the Super Round starting on Thursday in Tokyo.  Japan has now won 19 straight games in the top three international tournaments - their last loss came at the hands of Team USA in the Super Round of the 2019 Premier 12 on November 12, 2019.  They won their remaining three games in that tournament, went 5-0 in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (played in Yokohama in 2021), 8-0 in the 2023 World Baseball Classic and 4-0 so far in this tournament.

I thought I'd share cards of the two heroes of the game for Samurai Japan - Isobata and Fujihira:

2023 BBM Fighters #F65

2017 BBM Icons - Japan Pride #13